


i thought of carnations and then of you

by pyrality



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Besotted and affectionate Kuroko???, Domestic, Flowers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-13
Updated: 2014-01-13
Packaged: 2018-01-08 14:05:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1133518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyrality/pseuds/pyrality
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kise wishes sentimentality was a currency, wishes that maybe Kuroko would pay him more in open mouthed, desperate kisses rather than the very quiet, barely-there smiles he offers before he pecks a kiss as light as air onto Kise's lips.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i thought of carnations and then of you

Kise doesn't claim to understand the inner workings of Kuroko Tetsuya's mind or heart, but sometimes he thinks he has seen glimpses of it. The startlingly soft text messages Kise used to get at one in the morning asking him something like if he would like to go stargazing tomorrow, or the wicked half-curl of Kuroko's lips and his half-lidded gentle eyes as he arches his back, or the sleepy kiss he presses to the corner of Kise's mouth before he falls into dreams.  
  
Sometimes he thinks about how Kuroko was born in January, meaning his birth month flower is the carnation. Carnations are flowers of love. When Kise picks up a bouquet of the sugar pink flowers in a shop, the weight of it in his hands, damp plastic and sweet scents, heavy on his heart, he thinks of contradictions.  
  
"I love you" is something Kise says often and doesn't expect to hear said back to him. But Kuroko still fills something in Kise's chest whenever he says "welcome home."  
  
The woman running the shop is in her late eighties, right around the age when a person feels comfortable making personal comments as casually as talking about the weather. She is all sly smiles behind wrinkled fingers.  
  
"You've got a dreamy look in your eyes," she comments as she rings Kise up, like she knows all of his secrets. Kise thinks of Momoi Satsuki and Aida Riko, two women he's never been able to hide anything from. "Whoever it is must be very lucky to have you."  
  
Kise laughs, breathless, wonders if Kuroko has ever looked at him and thought that before. He'll be sure to ask the other man later and get an answer that either scalds his skin or burns and burrows deep into his chest. As he opens his wallet to pay for the bouquet, Kise wishes sentimentality was a currency, wishes that maybe Kuroko would pay him more in open mouthed, desperate kisses rather than the very quiet, barely-there smiles he offers before he pecks a kiss as light as air onto Kise's lips.  
  
@@@  
  
Kise returns back to the apartment to hear Kuroko coughing, muffled, as he says "welcome home" from somewhere inside the kitchen. He tosses his bag down onto the couch haphazardly, jogging into the kitchen to find the shorter man. Kuroko is wearing gloves and wielding a spray bottle and a towel, face half-covered by his surgical mask with a fever patch on his forehead.  
  
Kuroko's eyes fall to the bouquet of carnations hanging at Kise's side. "Would you like a vase for those?"  
  
"What happened?" the blond demands, free hand waving about frantically. "You're sick? Why aren't you resting?"  
  
"It seems I caught a cold while I was volunteering with the kids." The shorter man reaches up and tugs his mask down, stepping back as he does so. "I'm only running a slight fever, but I thought it'd be best to disinfect the apartment. I don't want you to get sick."  
  
Kise sets the bouquet down on the counter and steps closer to the smaller man. He presses his hand to Kuroko's forehead, expression furrowed as he trails his fingers slowly from his forehead down to his cheek, tender and soft.  
  
"Please don't look so upset," Kuroko says, reaching up to press his pointer finger gently against Kise's brow. "It is unbefitting of you."  
  
"I want to kiss you," the blond says pitifully, catching Kuroko's hand as he pulls it back. He brings it up and kisses his fingertips, thinking of quiet moments and small words, before letting go. His hands come up to squeeze the other man's shoulders, fingers burrowing in tight, desperate but not painful. He leans forward and noses Kuroko's cheek before pulling back with a whine. "This is terrible."  
  
Kuroko toys with the edge of his surgical mask resting against his chin, eyes twinkling. "I didn't say you couldn't."  
  
Kise does a double take, heart speeding up at the soft look in Kuroko's blue eyes, the way he steps forward with a challenging curve to the slant of his lips. The blond leans forward slowly, cautious as he tucks Kuroko's stray locks behind his ear. Kuroko curls his arms around Kise's neck, eyes drooping as he tilts his face up, but he suddenly turns his head at the last second. Kise catches the corner of his lip and his cheek instead. Kuroko curls fingers into his shirt from behind, hiding his face into the curve of Kise's shoulder, murmuring an apology.  
  
"Come to bed," he says softly and Kise is already moving again to kiss him full on this time, swallowing the quiet noise Kuroko makes in protest.  
  
"Nnn." Kuroko hums contentedly as the blond sucks on his lower lip. "You're going to catch my cold."  
  
"Don't care," Kise replies, sliding his hands down from his neck, smoothing over his chest to curl loosely around the other's waist and pull his warm body flush to his own torso.  
  
Kuroko sighs, as though long suffering, but tightens his arms around Kise's neck and kisses him firmly back.  
  
@@@  
  
Kise is almost asleep when he feels Kuroko's fingers stroking his cheek. He pulls his heavy eyelids open to blearily look at the soft smile the smaller man is sporting, tender and gentle in ways that reminds Kise that he gets paid in sentimentality in ways other than kisses. The blue-haired man sighs, expression fond, besotted almost, and Kise leans forward and presses his forehead to the other's. Kuroko's burning up, he realizes, and makes to pull out of bed. Kuroko loops his fingers in between Kise's, squeezing.  
  
"Stay," he orders and the blond doesn't have the heart to protest. Kuroko smiles, pleased, and closes his eyes.  
  
"Kurokocchi."  
  
The smaller man makes a sleepy sound of acknowledgment.  
  
Kise swallows, thinks of the lady at the flower shop. He rubs his fingers against the back of Kuroko's knuckles, words quiet when they finally come out of his mouth, gently rolling off of his tongue as if the question and its coinciding answer was as important to him as breathing. "Do you ever think you're… lucky to have me?"  
  
Kuroko lets out a short, breathless laugh, eyelashes fluttering. He keeps his eyes closed. "Yes, Kise-kun," he replies, squeezing his hand, "more often than you might think." He cracks a sleepy eye open, lips curling in a knowing smile. "And thank you for the carnations. The message…" He pauses, closing his eyes, "… it was thoughtful of you."  
  
Kise smiles to himself and closes his eyes, something soothed in his chest, and thinks of dreaming and sentimentality.


End file.
